Notre Dame Set For No-Drama NSD
There is no Signing Day announcement that will have Notre Dame fans on the edge of their seats on Wednesday.
And - Irish fans, cross your fingers - there appears to be no concerns about any last-minute defections due to NIL, promises of a starting position or anything else.
No, it shouldn’t be an especially exciting Signing Day for Notre Dame and that’s perfectly fine with Marcus Freeman and his staff.
The Irish are poised to sign 23 prospects in the Class of 2023, 11 on offense and 12 on defense.
The class is well-balanced in terms of position with a good blend of obvious star power and prospects with high ceilings who were once considered under the radar.
The Irish won high-profile recruiting battles for quarterback CJ Carr, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, offensive lineman Guerby Lambert and wide receiver Cam Williams.
Irish Sports Daily rates 20 of the 23 expected signees as four-stars with Carr, Williams, Viliamu-Asa and Lambert leading the way.
With an elite prospect like Carr filling the quarterback spot, Williams is joined by fellow receivers Micah Gilbert and Logan Saldate along with tight end Jack Larsen to give him a wide array of talented pass-catchers.
Notre Dame is set to land a pair of complementary running backs with extremely high ceilings in all-purpose back Aneyas Williams and bruiser Kedren Young, who is more in the mold of an Audric Estime.
Lambert’s recruitment received a ton of attention both because of the caliber of prospect he is and how quiet he was, leaving everybody guessing. His commitment completed a group that also includes Peter Jones, Anthonie Knapp and Styles Prescod, all priority prospects for the Irish.
Viliamu-Asa is clearly the jewel of the defense and he’ll be flanked by a couple linebackers the Irish are extremely high on in Bodie Kahoun and Teddy Rezac.
Up front, legacy prospect Bryce Young leads the defensive line haul along with fellow defensive ends Loghan Thomas and Cole Mullins and defensive tackle Sean Sevillano Jr.
In the secondary, the Irish will ink a pair of cornerback prospects they worked hard to land in Karson Hobbs and Leonard Moore along with a trio of safety prospects in Taebron Bennie-Powell, Brauntae Johnson and Kennedy Urlacher, the son of NFL legend Brian Urlacher.
Notre Dame sources will tell you they don’t really care where analysts rank this class nationally - just outside the Top 10, according to ESPN, Rivals and 247.
The Irish are excited because they believe the class they’re set to sign today will help them get closer to winning a national championship.